Bed fabric.



STATS rn'r orpio.

JOHN BURNS, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THE SIMMONS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

\ BED FABRIC.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 16, 19115.

Application filed June 22, 1914. Serial No. 846,440.

oi?) whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN Bumsa citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Kenosha. in the county of Kenosha and State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bed Fabrics, of which the following is a specificainvention relates to improvements in bed fabrics and refers more particularly to a type of bed fabric which is composed of a series of longitudinal chains tied together by cross-links and so organized that it may be folded both transversely and longitudi- Among the salient objects of the invention are, to provide a bed fabric in which the longitudinal and cross-links of the fabric arranged in interhooked engagement sach a manner that there is no possibility of the links creeping, slippin'g or becoming displaced while the fabric is in its normal Fiat condition or when it, is folded either transversely or longitudinally; to provide a construction in which there is no tendency for the links to open up or spread apart, due to any longitudinal or transverse stress to which the fabric is subjected; to provide an improved construction of the links which will admit of their manufacture by comparatively simple automatic machinery in an efficient, economical and rapid manner; to provide an improved form Ofjlll'lk which may be manufactured without waste of wire caused by complicated, unnecessary bends or twists; and, in general, to provide an impro ed wire link bed fabric of the type referred to. I

M y invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan view of a portion of a wire link bed fabric embodying my improved construction; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. is a transverse section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings I have illustrated a portion of a wire link bed fabric which comprises longitudinal chains composed of interhooked longitudinal links 4 which are tied together transversely by means of crosslinks 5. All of the longitudinal links 4 are alike, and each is constructed of a length of wire which is centrally bent to form a completely closed eye 6. This eye forms a cenconvolution (i and the extremities of the].

wire are furnished with hook ends 11 which engage the bights 10 in the adiacent end of the next link in the chain. The inner portion of the convolution 6 is in the same plane as the two sides 12 of the link so as to make it convenient to apply the cross-links 5, and the two crossed portions 8 and 9 are slightly bent away from each other at the intersection" so as to cause the bights 10 also to occupy the same plane as the wires 12 and the inner portion of the loop 6. The hooks 7 in the ends of'the crosslinks 5 are large enough to permit the fabric to hinge freely in a transverse direction and the hooks 11 in the longitudinal links are in a similar manner made large enough to facilitate longitudinal flexing of the fabric. It will be noticed that the el hows 10 into which the hooks 11 of the longitudinal links are engaged, are completely closed so that the hooked ends of the longitudinal links cannot creep, slip or be come displaced; and it is also obvious that the hook ends of the cross-links 5 cannot esape or creep out of the completely closed convolution forming the triangular eye space 6. In fabrics of this type the longitudinal chains receive most of the stress,

and it is consequently of considerable importance to shape the links composing them in such a manner as to prevent them from bending or opening up, due to severe tension. This requirement is well taken care of in'my improved fabric since the sides of the link which transmit the pull are entirely free from kinks, bonds or twists.

Y My improved form of link is particularly easy to construct by means of comparatively simple automatic machinery, since the central convolution or coil is formed by simply bending the wire at two points and then reversely bending the two projecting ends;-

and there is no waste of wire caused by the introduction of unnecessary, complicated twists or bends.

It will be manifest to those skilled in the art that my construction is capable of being varied somewhat Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and consequently I do not limit myself to the exact details of construction described or shown except as specified in the appended claims.

I claim 1. A bed fabric chain composed of twin- Wire links, each having at one end, lying in the plane of and between the side wires, a closed loop-eye, the continuations of the wire forming the loop-eye crossin each other and being bent back into para lelism closely adjacent the eye, to form with the latter a pair of closed bights, and hook-v loops on the terminal ends of said twin wires engaging the bights of the next simiof the wire forming the side bars of the link and being bent into hooked engagement With the bights in the adjacent link of the chain, and cross-links engaging said central eyes for tying the chains together.

JOHN BURNS.

xVitnssesr a J; H. CAULWELL, I I 'M. J. HARBAUGH. 

